School of Medicine to become separate: PM

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By OGIA MIAMEL
THE School of Medicine and Health Science at the University of PNG is to become a standalone university.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill revealed that at the 53rd annual medical symposium forum in Port Moresby yesterday.
He said the National Executive Council had approved the separation from the UPNG.
“One of our Government’s strong commitments is to build a medical university in the national capital so that we can have a standalone university for doctors,” the prime minster said.
“There is a commitment that we made through the elections and we will begin the delivery of that by 2018.
“We also want to continue to improve the supply chain issue that has always been a continuing challenge, especially in the delivery of medicine to our people.
“We have seen the ongoing problems with distributions of medicines, the drugs have been properly funded but we are still seeing delay in delivery, the bottlenecks have been identified and resolved.”
O’Neill said his Government was committed to improving date collection of health indicators throughout the country to find out the existing gaps and fix them to deliver better health service and infrastructure.
He commended the Medical Society of PNG for being the leading body in the country to provide the forum possible solutions and recommendations to address health challenges.
“I know the request to make this become an annual event start from 2018 under the leadership of Sir Puka Temu.
“We will certainly be co-supporters in making this particular event an annual event in the calendar of Papua New Guinea,” O’Neill said.
“There have been some issues about budget cuts but as many of you know I am not tempted in cutting any budget for health and education. They continue to remain our number one priority in our country.”